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About Last Call

Having descended from a long line of indomitable, good-humored Scots, Hayden MacBride sees no reason to take his own death lying down. In fact, he now spends his days crashing funerals for the free food and insight into the Great Beyond. Then he meets Rosamond, a nun playing hooky from the Holy Orders. Hayden is smitten the instant her heavy silver cross smacks him in the face when she leaps up to do the wave at a ball game. Luckily, Rosamond has picked the right person to teach her how to live . . . and to love—because nobody does both better than Hayden MacBride.

However, Rosamond’s years in the convent have not prepared her for the oddball characters of Hayden’s world. There’s his ever-fretful, vigilant daughter, Diana, the “Dutchess o’ the Sidelong Glance”; his sweet grandson Joey, struggling to break free of his mother’s overprotective embrace; Hayden’s bagpipe-blowing cronies; the Greyfriars Gang; neighbor Bobbie Anne, a “working girl” full of good advice and tender mercies; and Hank, the sexy architect contemplating the priesthood—a big mistake in Hayden’s book. For Hayden thinks that Hank should be married to his daughter and raising Joey. And he has an elaborate plan to make Hank see things his way. . . .

In an uproariously funny novel of love, laughter, and one man’s final call at the riotous watering hole called life, Laura Pedersen proves that miracles are all around us—when we open our eyes and our hearts to embrace them.

About Last Call

Having descended from a long line of indomitable, good-humored Scots, Hayden MacBride sees no reason to take his own death lying down. In fact, he now spends his days crashing funerals for the free food and insight into the Great Beyond. Then he meets Rosamond, a nun playing hooky from the Holy Orders. Hayden is smitten the instant her heavy silver cross smacks him in the face when she leaps up to do the wave at a ball game. Luckily, Rosamond has picked the right person to teach her how to live . . . and to love–because nobody does both better than Hayden MacBride.

However, Rosamond’s years in the convent have not prepared her for the oddball characters of Hayden’s world. There’s his ever-fretful, vigilant daughter, Diana, the “Dutchess o’ the Sidelong Glance”; his sweet grandson Joey, struggling to break free of his mother’s overprotective embrace; Hayden’s bagpipe-blowing cronies; the Greyfriars Gang; neighbor Bobbie Anne, a “working girl” full of good advice and tender mercies; and Hank, the sexy architect contemplating the priesthood–a big mistake in Hayden’s book. For Hayden thinks that Hank should be married to his daughter and raising Joey. And he has an elaborate plan to make Hank see things his way. . . .

In an uproariously funny novel of love, laughter, and one man’s final call at the riotous watering hole called life, Laura Pedersen proves that miracles are all around us–when we open our eyes and our hearts to embrace them.

About Laura Pedersen

Laura Pedersen is an author and playwright from Buffalo, New York. After finishing high school in 1983, she moved to Manhattan and began working on the American Stock Exchange, later spending the better part of the 1990s writing for The New… More about Laura Pedersen

About Laura Pedersen

Laura Pedersen is an author and playwright from Buffalo, New York. After finishing high school in 1983, she moved to Manhattan and began working on the American Stock Exchange, later spending the better part of the 1990s writing for The New… More about Laura Pedersen

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Praise

“This book will make you laugh and cry and like a good friend; you’ll be happy to have made its acquaintance.” —LORNA LANDVIK Author of Angry Housewives Eating Bons Bons

“This book will make you laugh and cry and like a good friend, you’ll be happy to have made its acquaintance.” —LORNA LANDVIK Author of Angry Housewives Eating Bons Bons

“A breezy coming-of-age novel with an appealing cast of characters.”—Booklist

“A fresh and funny look at not fitting in.”—Seventeen magazine

Author Q&A

A Conversation with Laura Pedersen

Julie Sciandra and Laura Pedersen have been friends and occasionally colleaguesfor more than twenty years. They walk each other’s dogs and also bowltogether. Julie usually wins, but Laura insists that this is because Julie’s familyowned a bowling alley in Buffalo, and thus she has had an unfair advantage.

Julie Sciandra: Did you always want to be a writer?Laura Pedersen: I was a slow starter, basically a turnip in a sleeper the firstfew years of my life, and I didn’t come on strong academically untilmuch later. Just learning to read was a huge accomplishment for me. Iwould say the prospect of telling stories first arose in seventh grade. Anonly child and pathologically shy I realized I had to do something to facilitateinteraction. So I started telling a few jokes and funny stories,and found a positive response that led to friendships. After gettingyelled at for talking during class, I was forced to start writing and passingnotes.

JS: When did you first receive recognition for your writing?LP: In middle school I won an essay contest for writing about Teddy Roosevelt.And then I won a prize in the declamation contest for a speechabout Carrie Nation. But it wasn’t until high school that I really hit itbig—I was sentenced to community service for a poem I’d written thatcontained a hidden message.

JS: How do you set about writing a novel like Last Call?LP: I hear a lot of writers say they start with the seed for an idea, such as acharacter or one particular event, and they don’t know where it’s goingto lead them. That could never work for me. I don’t start a book unlessI have the beginning and the end. Only the middle is something I canwork out as I go.

JS: Do you write every day?LP: I definitely write checks every day. But I probably work on what willeventually become a book or short story about four days a week, usuallybetween 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., with an hour break for lunch and afew other breaks for running errands or playing with the dogs. I have avery short attention span and work best in spurts, then I need to dosomething else for a while, like go Rollerblading or play basketball withthe kids.

JS: How long does it take you to write a book?LP: That’s a real time-motion study, like how long between when a trafficlight in Manhattan turns green and the cab driver behind you leans onhis horn. But I’d say a book takes me a year, while doing other things. Isuppose that if I sat down with a freezerful of burritos and a vat ofchocolate, I could write a novel in eight weeks.

JS: Where do your ideas come from?LP: From daily life. I live “hard” in the sense that I enjoy being on the goand having lots of experiences. For instance, I went to the floor of thestock exchange shortly after I turned eighteen. That environment createdthe foundation for my first book, Play Money. Journalism has takenme to exotic places like Russia, Turkey, and Cuba. If you want to tell astory but you don’t have an idea, I think it’s best to go out and do somethingand then write about it. There are a lot of things I’d love to dobut haven’t had time yet, and so I’ll occasionally imagine a characterdoing them and use that in a novel. But at the end of the day, my storiesare always about living, loving, and dying.

JS: Are the characters based on people you’ve known in real life?LP: I borrow bits and pieces from different individuals and then create newpeople, sort of like a medieval dwarf going from house to house in themiddle of the night and stealing the essences of the townsfolk. For instance,my friend Peter Heffley’s ninety-year-old mother, Mildred, isthe patron saint of worriers and pessimists. We actually look forward toher negative pronouncements and often attempt to evoke them just forentertainment. (Hence the catchphrase, “Who put the dread in Mildred?”)I know if I say, “My, that’s a lovely orchid, Mrs. Heffley,” she’llretort, “It’s just about dead.” Or if Pete says he has the Fourth of Julyparty all organized, she undoubtedly replies, “There’s a storm headingthis way.” So for the character of Diana in Last Call, who is unlike Mrs.Heffley in every other way, I borrowed the fretfulness along with someof her best lines. And many of my charaters are built on a small slice ofme that I then exaggerate. For example, in Beginner’s Luck Hallie playspoker, goes to the racetrack, and trades in the stock market. Gil likesplays by Tennessee Williams, Craig is an only child, Olivia is a vegetarian,and Bernard is optimistic and enjoys humor. Those are all basedon my own experiences or personality. Plus, I’m a lazy researcher.

JS: How does being a minister influence your writing?LP: I’m an ordained interfaith minister (we respect all paths), but I don’thave a congregation, and I don’t give sermons, except to the teenagedMichael. In the not-for-profit world it helps to accomplish things ifyou’re a minister or a politician. As for organized religion, I’m a lifelongUnitarian Universalist. Most Sundays you’ll find me sitting in a pewon the far right over at All Souls in Manhattan, reflecting on theUU Trinity—reduce, reuse, and recycle.

JS: But there’s a lot of religion in Last Call, especially Catholicism.LP: I’ve always had an interest in religion, especially since it’s been thecause of so many wars and so much strife. Also, my earliest childhoodmemory is of my mother yelling, “Jesus Christ, is it ever going to stopsnowing?”One of my favorite stories is how in the late 1300s there were twodueling popes, Clement VII and Urban VI, both busily excommunicatingeach other. Finally, a council was called to decide betweenthem. Pietro Pilarghi, who helped bring about the council, made himselfpope and told the others to take a hike. Neither did, and so thenthere were three popes.As for making Rosamond a Catholic, when I was growing up outsideof Buffalo in the 1970s, eighty percent of the population was Catholic.As James Joyce famously said about his faith, Catholicism means “Herecomes everybody!” Catholics live out loud in a terrific way. So every-where you turned there was a big church, battalions of habited nuns,outdoor celebrations on feast days, and of course the Friday fish fry.(Word of the Vatican II council that ended in 1965 apparentlyhadn’t yet reached Buffalo. Cowboy comedian Will Rogers once explainedthat he wanted to be in Buffalo when the world ended becauseit would happen there five years later.) So my friends were constantlydashing off to Mass, confession, religious instruction, and CYO (CatholicYouth Organization). Having had so much exposure to that particularfaith, I thought it would be interesting to set up a sort of fictional showdownbetween an atheist and a Roman Catholic. Also, if Rosie hadbeen a Theosophist, I don’t think the story would work as well becausethere aren’t the lifestyle constraints and concept of an afterlife to workwith. And worse, I would have had to do research.

JS: I notice you have a pair of snazzy new red-and-blue bowling shoes. Isthere a big game tonight?LP: Not tonight, but I haven’t given up on my idea of bringing about worldpeace through bowling. It’s a sport that allows almost everyone to play,regardless of race, religion, economic background, and body type. Youcan wear a sombrero, burka, kilt, saffron robe, or whatever you like.

JS: So what’s next? I’ve seen you scribbling on your jeans, which usuallymeans a new book is in the works.LP: After Beginner’s Luck came out people asked, “What happens to Hallie?”It was open-ended, so I’ve written a sequel called Heart’s Desire.Hallie has finished her first year away at college and returns to theStockton household for the summer, which is in a greater state of chaosthan usual, if that’s possible. Gil and Bernard have broken up, and Ottaviois pressuring Olivia to marry him. Meanwhile, Hallie is contemplatingthat age-old teenage dilemma: Should she or shouldn’t she?